The title of this post is a quote from Donald Trump. He was talking to the Republican candidates at the 2014 CPAC event last year. Below is a succinct explanation of this “CPAC” group — what it is and who runs it and why those who want to discuss immigration are barred from speaking there, or choose voluntarily to stay away because they know who runs the show.
Ann Corcoran is deeply knowledgeable about immigration issues in America; that well of knowledge allows her to be succinct to the point of distillation. As with many aspects of immigration in the U.S., why bother crushing the grapes yourself when Refugee Resettlement Watch has already done the work?
Here she explains why Donald Trump is a lightning rod. I hope the ‘insider baseball’ references to CPAC, etc., will be understandable in context:
CPAC 2014: Trump was out in front (virtually alone) on immigration issue
Yesterday Ann Coulter tweeted this little walk down memory lane about the premiere (supposedly) conservative conclave held in Washington, DC each year known as CPAC.
For the record, we have written often on CPAC, but will not attend primarily because CPAC ‘leaders’ including Grover Norquist have worked hard for many years to keep discussions on immigration to a minimum and have outright banned those who want to discuss the Islamist threat to America.
Go here for our archive of posts on Grover Norquist. By the way, while pushing his amnesty agenda, Norquist worked very closely with the office of Senator Marco Rubio in helping craft that now discredited ‘Gang of Eight’ amnesty bill, but I’m digressing.
Here is a piece written by Jon Feere at the Center for Immigration Studies(tweeted by Ann Coulter yesterday) which chronicles how Trump was alone among a list of Republican leaders and Presidential wannabes in addressing immigration.
Trump was talking about our borders, our sovereignty and the future of the Republican Party long before he decided to jump into the Presidential race, and he must have been very unpopular (with the ‘leaders’ at CPAC) with this message!
From Feere at CIS (emphasis below is mine — ANN):
Nearly every speaker at the first day of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) avoided any discussion of immigration or amnesty, a sign that Republican politicians are starting to understand that conservative voters have very little interest in doubling legal immigration and amnestying illegal aliens.
Of all speakers, which included Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and governors Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal, only one speaker spent any time on immigration policy: Donald Trump. He came out strong on sovereignty and garnered strong applause for noting “we’re either a country, or we’re not; we either have borders or we don’t.” Trump also noted that amnesty is a benefit for the Democratic Party, while calling out Rubio:
“When you let the 11 million — which will grow to 30 million people — in, I don’t care who stands up, whether it’s Marco Rubio, and talks about letting everybody in, you won’t get one vote. Every one of those votes goes to the Democrats. You have to do what’s right; it’s not about the votes necessarily. But of those 11 million potential voters which will go to 30 million in a not too long future, you will not get any of those votes no matter what you do, no matter how nice you are, no matter how soft you are, no matter how many times you say ‘rip down the fence and let everybody in’ you’re not going to get the votes. So with immigration, you better be smart and you better be tough, and they’re taking your jobs, and you better be careful. You better be careful.
Any questions? Just put them in the comments. And yes, Mr. Trump is a bit of a loose cannon. He’s been an American feature for many years, mostly famous for being rich and for being eccentric — the two often go together.
But make no mistake about the attacks on him: when everyone else refuses to acknowledge the presence of the elephant in the room, and you have the courage not only to notice but to point at it, ‘they’ will come after you.
Just ask Fjordman.
Afterword from the Baron (who formatted this for posting)
I find Donald Trump to be somewhat of a buffoon, based on various things he’s said in public over the past twenty-five years or so. However, the Republican establishment HATES him (and obviously now fears him as well), and that makes my heart warm to him. Anyone whom Jeb Bush, Reince Priebus, and the RNC want to destroy can’t be all bad.
I had thought this endless election season, with its 4,221 Republican presidential candidates, would be excruciating, something to be avoided as much as possible. But Donald Trump has actually made it interesting.
Has Trump really got the potential to split the Republican vote and put that woman in?
Could Trump be a nico (neo-con in name only) plant, even an agent of influence, he fits the description awfully well?
Is he ‘presidential’? he could be the best since Reagan or even worse than the current conman. Luckily I don’t have to make up my mind.
The thing is, there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between Jeb Bush and Hillary. Except that she is probably more ruthless than he is.
So it really doesn’t matter if Trump splits the vote — the choice is between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Baron, I’m disappointed to see such a fine and subtle thinker resort to the reflexive response of Trump fans to any doubts or reservations about their idol: “No Jeb!”
I don’t see any reference or allusion to Jeb Bush in MC’s comment. You appear to take for granted that any plausible electoral scenario will eventually boil down to Jeb vs. Hillary; or Trump vs. Jeb vs. Hillary, with Trump being merely a spoiler. I don’t take that for granted, and I’m guessing that MC doesn’t either.
Jeb does not have a lock on the nomination, though he initially had the most name recognition and borrowed status. Then Trump jumped in with his massive pop celebrity and swaggering ego, and some pleasing statements on immigration. It’s unlikely that he’s siphoning much support away from Jeb; instead, he’s taking attention from all the other candidates, whom his fans pretend do not exist. They are making it all about Trump vs. Jeb, period.
Trump has become the exclusive focus of a great many in the anti-Bush camp, at the expense of candidates who could be appealing to the fed-up, angry-as-heck crowd, without being off-putting and embarrassing to many others. I see Trump as the spoiler of the primaries more than the general.
(And even if there’s “not a dime’s worth of difference” between Jeb and Hillary, they aren’t completely identical. Sometimes a mere nickel’s worth of difference is consequential.)
I swore that I would never again hold my nose and vote for the Republican. I did it every time since Reagan, and it never did me any good. It gave me the New World Order, eternal amnesty, state-run “faith-based” co-option, and the Religion of Peace. The only difference between the two parties is that the Democrats want to raise taxes to fund massive government spending, while the Republicans want to borrow the money.
I’ve had it.
It’s time for conservatives to withhold our votes from Republicans until the party withers away completely. The RNC’s strategies gave us 8 years of Obama. If we live through that, we can wait out his successor while the GOP dies a well-deserved slow death by attrition.
Basta!
P.S. There’s one other difference between the donkey and the elephant: the Democrats say they will raise taxes and let in all those illegals and fundamentally transform America, and then that’a exactly what they do. But the Republicans LIE to their voters, over and over again, to gain the votes of the conservative base.
If we’re stupid enough to vote for them over and over again after that, I guess we’re getting what we deserve. We’re like Charlie Brown with Lucy holding the football.
WHAM!!
I’ve been singing this tune since at least when GWBush pushed his amnesty onto us in the summer of 2007 — which mercifully was rejected by the nation.
I utterly DESPISE the GOP. It cannot go the way of the Whigs soon enough for me.
Please don’t give my comments any real credibility; as a foreigner, US elections are not my strong point.
That said, I just cannot envision Trump getting the PUB nomination, he WILL be squeezed out, as was Ron? Paul last time. It is JB’s turn for the nomination, and he will cry and scream and have a hissy fit if he has to miss it, he might even turn in his skull and bones membership card.
I don’t suppose the big money cares too much as long as one or other of the tweedles gets in. Which one is dumb and which is deeceitful is irrelevant as the Baron implies.
MC, Ron Paul’s following was no where near the following that Trump currently can draw on. Trump’s high popularity is partly due to the perception of what the RNC has become and him raising the issues that matter most to the thinking voter.
People want to hear a candidate, any candidate for that matter, tell it like it is and for them to just stop lying and pretending that everything is fine in the country when it is plainly not.
Keep your fingers crossed for us then MC, because what we get will have the usual impact on Israel. Ole ‘Dodging Bullets’ Clinton will extend and perhaps intensify the pressure on you – lest we forget her role in pushing the OIC sharia flavoured ‘Human Rights” (the antithesis of western understanding of Human Rights) agenda at the United Nations.
Bottom line is Trump cares about his own survival and that of his offspring – he must protect the market place where he reigns supreme and finds self-validation. In virtually any and all channels of human development, I prefer the person who acts out of self-interest as long as he/she speaks the truth, even if sometimes that truth is difficult to palate.
Trump and any of Cruz, Walker, Jindal, or Perry will be a vast improvement over what has occupied the White House since Regan; and I include Bush 2 in that.
If we have to have a politician as President (and I wish to the heavens we didn’t) let him/her at least have experience running a State properly.
I meant to include an opinion on Carly Fiorina.
I’m not sold on her, despite a glittering performance at the “Debates” recently. I’m a IT dude and have a lingering memory of her flaccid, follow-the-crowd, policies at HP despite her botoxed brow (my fiancée assures me there is nothing wrong with botoxing if one has insecurities regarding one’s image and after all frowning might give employees the wrong impression).
I’d written her off, post-HP, not least because her elongated, botoxed, horse-faced image reminds me of John ‘Afternoon-Tea with Assad’ Swiftboat Kerry and all the stomach-churning anxiety that involves.
Bottom line; if it’s a choice between her and “Dodging Bullets” Clinton, for first femme Prez, then give me that ole corporate experience and anyway I’m a soft touch for Italian women.
Her maiden name is Sneed.
Thanks Baron. ‘Splains everything!
Trump’s Executive VP, Counsel and campaign advisor is a registered Democrat and voted for Obama
For your consideration, further exploration of this election process is discussed at The Conservative Treehouse exposing the game and it’s predetermined results. Disclosure: Sundance, author of these essays is firmly in the Donald Trump camp.
GOPe 2016 Road Map To Victory – Tree House Challenge…
Transparently Predictable Political “Tripwires”
EUREKA – Finally Found The Donohue TPP Trade Leverage Over The White House…
The Pubs will make a fatal mistake if they shoo him away from any of their events. He needs to be kept away from organizing his own party/movement/PAC. His air-sucking presence in any gathering will gradually fade because his political content is limited and he will become trite. It is good for everyone to get a Pub overdose on him early so that he doesn’t become an exotic bird in his own cage….taking away the few votes we are going to need from the independents. Besides, what he says is largely true and we need to get used to discussing these things in rough ‘n tumble. What has he said that we disagree with?
the few votes we are going to need
I part company with you there. It has been a number of years since I meant “Republicans” when I said “we”. The national party is a corrupt nest of liars.
A plague on both their houses!
When I encounter liberals who detect my political sentiments, and then assume I’m a Republican, I say: “I’m not a Republican — I hate Republicans! The only thing worse than a Republican is a Democrat.”
Do you like some of their 17? Are they mistaken for associating with this disreputable group?
Nope. Don’t care for any of them. They’re machine candidates in thrall to Big Money. That’s why they won’t touch the immigration issue, which is what makes Trump popular, because he will.
All polititians are actual whores because they have to sell themselves for campaign money. We expect them to be whores. Trump admitted that his business is full of greasing palms. Ergo, Trump is a subset of whores with one member.
Agreed. As I mentioned before, I don’t care for Donald Trump.
But that’s no argument in favor of voting for establishment Republicans. Not at all!
“his political content is limited”: I wouldn’t be so sure. He published a policy book in 2011.
98% 0f the pols running will not change anything when they get in. I would rather have any competent American, high school diploma or otherwise, who has spent his/her life, working, supporting a family, and has common sense. We need a person who cares about country and family period. had to make happen in the culture rot that is most of our country now. I fear for my 10 grandkids!!
It is wonderful to see the feathers of the Republican establishment being ruffled. I think it would even be better to have the establishment’s Machiavellian control of the party’s politics and their naked lust for political power as an end in itself exposed.
It looks like Trump can accomplish the first by either remaining in the party or running against it. Either way, the establishment’s preferred candidate will be undermined and the power brokers will lose much of their control in the election for the President. Regarding the second, can Trump’s effort expose the corruption in the party? Revealing the rot, and shining a spotlight into the crevasse should be essential for getting rid of the “termites.”
I believe it will be a much more formidable task to expose the brokers and the scale of their corruption. They are deeply embedded in the party. I don’t know if one man can do it. I also believe they will try to co-opt Trump. They have succeeded with much of the successfully elected Tea Party candidates. Arrayed against the conservative voters and regular Republican voters are the invisible brokers, and their visible manikins. The national legislature is almost totally compromised and or beholden to their manipulators. The corruption exists at nearly every level of the political establishment.
I am wondering if the Republican party can be righted or will it have to be sidelined and ultimately replaced.
Trump is not a “safe” candidate and normally would not have any traction. But these are not normal times. The U.S. and the West in general are in a very desperate situation. We can no longer afford to play it safe. So let’s roll the dice and go with the Donald.
“mostly famous for being rich and for being eccentric ”
And for being a boorish, arrogant ass.
Trump is a ‘boorish arrogant ass?’ I’m wondering what you would call the incumbent, remembering that Americans voted him in, and re-elected him!
And those same people are now going to vote in a new president next year, oh the mind boggles!
Did you see anyone in the great debate who could haul the country out of the utter shambles obama has created–apart from Trump, that is?
This is the Gates of Vienna, we are already in a third world war with our perpetual enemy and only one of the debaters had the guts to mention the word ‘islam’, Mike Huckabee. Even FOX news hates to mention that word, and when they do they ALWAYS say ‘radical islam’, showing they just don’t get it; we are not at war with radical islam–we are at war with islam.
ALL muslims are the enemy, they always have been; their religion demands it.
I call the incumbent a narcissistic feckless left wing weasel.
Work for you?
Not really a workable solution to use name-calling as a shorthand device to point to a politician’s failures. Much better to describe the behaviors, though it takes longer…
IMHO
True. I was being succinct–or trying to.
Yup!
I must admit I find The Donald’s arrogance and buffoonish-ness rather charming. And I love watching the political elites and the American Pravda media outlets squirm. Honestly, could he do a worse job as president than the current occupant of the WH? When you’ve hit rock bottom any increment upwards is progress.
You’ve captured the ummm…”charm” of Mr. Trump. He really is one of a kind.
Richard is crude and blunt but has good points.
http://freetheanimal.com/2015/08/about-donald-trump.html
Crude, rude and dangerous to know…this is definitely an alpha male.
I liked the core of his sentiments but I’m so weary of lazy expressions of otherwise thoughtful ideas. The f word and various references to female body parts numbs me out in a very short time. I tried to find a short quote to clip, but there wasn’t even a small passage that could be put here without such severe redaction as to remove the meaning.
I see it like this: a cultural phenomenon in which otherwise good ideas get lost in the angry scatalogical verbiage. A parallel phenomenon from another part of our cultural landcape: when an otherwise attractive woman dresses as though she’s off to her job as a prostitute. Her clothing leaves nothing to the imagination and, like the prose above, is eventually numbing. But it’s what her kewl friends do so she has to wear the mandated costume.
Back to Richard: we need all the contrarians we can get but the Rage Boyz don’t help the cause. His cathartic rants are wearing even as I agree with his sentiments.
I believe Trump’s public influence is being highly underestimated for the long haul. Many expect Trump to eventually implode due to his eccentricity and big mouth, but Trump also has a deep understanding of America’s soul and what once made his country great. He may be eccentric, but his loyalty is to America and to no other country – his background and history prove that – and that is what is setting him apart as a real contender from most of the presidential aspirants.
Trump is telling all what they want to hear. This is where Trump really is with immigration
Immigration: You seem to think he’s an immigration hardliner, and he’s certainly pretending to be. But why can’t you see through it? He condemned Mitt Romney as an immigration hardliner in 2012 and favored comprehensive immigration reform. He told Bill O’Reilly he was in favor of a “path to citizenship” for 30 million illegal immigrants:
Trump: You have to give them a path. You have 20 million, 30 million, nobody knows what it is. It used to be 11 million. Now, today I hear it’s 11, but I don’t think it’s 11. I actually heard you probably have 30 million. You have to give them a path, and you have to make it possible for them to succeed. You have to do that.
Question: Just how many rapists and drug dealers did Donald Trump want to give green cards to?
The GOP isn’t that smart, they’re pretty ham fisted in it’s operations. Rove has tons of money but is basically a two bit dirty tricks operator with a tin ear. Most of the people he runs lose.
The other GOP “strategists” are even more stupid.
And why would they let Trump energize a base that is already boiling mad at the GOP and it’s boss class after giving the GOP control of Congress just so Boehner can go golfing with Obama and fund all of Obama’s policies?
They have to know that most of the Trump supporters will not vote for puppets like Jeb, Rubio, Cruz or Fiorino.
Something is very wrong here. This guy is not what he seems.
I hop eyou don’t mind an outsider commenting on your personal political issues, but…
“Once again we play our dangerous game with our old enemies – the Americans” – I think that was Captain Remeus’ line in “Hunt for Red October” wasn’t it? The world watches on in bemusement as once again the American political theatre kicks into life. However, it’s just not funny any more, hasn’t been since Obama. Perhaps it’s time to study Bonhoeffer.
You are no loger the last best hope, you haven’t been for a long time. It must hurt you, ‘cos it sure hurts me. I like Americans, a lot. I like your country, what it used to be anyway. You still have some of the best people. But now your general population is proving to be just as gullible and spineless as any of the rest of us in the West.
Keep lying to the Party Faithful and each time less and less will believe the lies but by the time enough people get a clue that they no longer have any worthwhile political representation it will be far too late to do anything about it, such as start a 3rd Party. Looks too late now actually. The Tea Party was maybe the jump-off point, but it got swamped by the Republican machinery and sidelined by the MSM. Thank you Grover Norquist.
Yet to this observer from the other side of the world the most amazing thing is that I can’t believe that your leaders want to destroy your own country by having virtually open borders. Are you all completely mad? I read several years ago that each year at least 400 jihadis cross into your country from Mexico. You have thousands of them hiding among you, never mind all the incoming criminals. And everyone in leadership is apparently OK with this? Why is it so hard to find an adult that will campaign on a platform of simply securing the borders? Seems to me like he’d win it at a walk. It ain’t rocket science. All the normal people want it. Well? Trump is the best – the only – one that you’ve got? Dude… shouldn’t this be seen as some sort of a sign?
I can now imagine how a Roman, say Cicero or Cato, felt nearing the de facto end of their republic. Who is the better of the two bad, Caesar or Pompey? Whichever one you side with, the outcome would be the same. The Republic was dead.
The Republic died long before under the Gracchi. Caesar just killed the fiction it was still a Republic.
Maybe we too are living under the fiction of a republic. We can put our finger on when the Roman Republic was mortally wounded, that is, with the Gracchi. Where could we put ours: in 1860, 1933, 1965, or 2008?
Yes, exactly.
To me as an outsider, the most incredible about Trump is that he appears to be telling the truth not out of any personal conviction, but merely based on his entrepreneurial instincts.
Trump seems to perceive that in the current political and social atmosphere, Truth has become a product that few will dare supply, despite its still being in high demand in some quarters of society. But the ignored “market niche” is still there, waiting to be served. And so Trump, like the businessman that he is, sets out to fill that niche. He understands that many people want to hear the truth and that they will reward the one who voices it most loudly and holds on to it most visibly.
While Trump is saying things about immigration that nobody else will discuss, it is very doubtful that he actually has any personal commitment to that truth in its own right – not any more than a CEO of a stapler factory loves staplers other than as a means to make money.
In effect Trump is using the Awful Truth to differentiate himself from the rest of the pack. He knows that to stand out with your product you need to be different. And the easiest way to stand out from a group of non-entities is to stand tall and refuse to back down. Trump has simply found the trick that lets him be the only full-color, full-sound person on a stage packed with grainy black-and-white mime artists.
It’s a very welcome development that Trump has barged in and ruined the Party, but I doubt that he actually believes the truth he’s voicing. He’s simply using it for as long as it’s useful to him, and may well toss it out the window when he feels it’s no longer needed or indeed profitable.